Page ix of Four hitherto unpublished gospels : a series of character studies cast in the form of personal memoirs of John the Baptist, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, Judas Iscariot, James the brother of Jesus / by William E. Barton.

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PREFACE
These four narratives make no pretence of
antiquity. They are a modern attempt to dis-
cover what kind of side-light would have been
cast upon the ministry of Jesus if four other
men, besides the four who have told us of Him,
had written brief stories of what thev sawv and
thought about Jesus. For most that these con-
tain, the Four Gospels themselves are our au-
thority; but the material is given a somewhat
different emphasis when we attempt to view it
successively through the eyes of John the Bap-
tist, James the brother of Jesus, Judas Iscariot,
sand Andrew the brother of Simon Peter.
If anyone finds himself disposed to criticise
the application of the term "Gospel" to these
quasi autobiographical sketches, I shall be the
first to admit the justice of the criticism. If
a "gospel" be an attempt to tell the whole story
of the life of Jesus, these are not gospels, but
personal reminiscences. But we have come to
use the word "gospel" in a special sense which
may perhaps be sufficiently elastic to cover these
narratives. The use of the word "gospel" to
describe any narrative is an accommodation of
language. Gospel is "good news" and the term
is used in the New Testament strictly in this
sense. Paul rejoiced when Timothy arrived in
Corinth and "preached the gospel" that the
people of Thessalonica were steadfast in their
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